he posters and articles to which they objected were
not the work of Lord Northcliffe but of some young journalist anxious
to sell his paper. Nevertheless the _New Witness_ attack was not only
largely justified but was also remarkably courageous. The staff of
the _New Witness_ were themselves journalists and men of letters. In
both capacities as powerful a newspaper owner as Lord Northcliffe
could damage them severely--and did. Never henceforward would any of
them be able to write in one of his numerous papers, never would one
of their books receive a favourable review. For Belloc did not
hesitate to call Lord Northcliffe a traitor for the way in which he
had attacked Kitchener, while Cecil amused himself by reviewing and
pointing out the illiteracy of that strange peer's own writing. Later
too when the Harmsworth papers were in full cry for the fall of
Asquith and the substitution of Lloyd George, the _New Witness_ took
a strong stand. They pointed out too the way in which censorship was
exercised against the smaller newspapers while the Northcliffe press
seemed immune. Here was the fundamental danger. Whatever the motive,
some of the attacks and articles printed were undoubtedly calculated,
in military language, to cause alarm and despondency. It was
appalling that in time of war this should be permitted; and, as they
saw it, permitted because the Harmsworth millions had been used to
secure a hold on certain politicians. To the _New Witness_ "George"
was simply Harmsworth's man.

Meanwhile at Easter, 1916, came the awful tragedy of the Irish
rising. Chesterton had fallen into the sleep of his long illness soon
after the splendid gesture in which Redmond had offered the sword of
Ireland to the allied cause. And there seems little doubt that in
making this offer Redmond had with him, for the last time, the people
of Ireland. Recruiting began well but that awful fate of stupidity
that seems to overtake every Englishman dealing with Ireland even now
was overwhelming the two countries. Sir Francis Vane, an Irish
officer in the British Army, described in a series of articles in the
_New Witness_ the blunders made in the recruiting campaign: such
things as prominent Protestant Unionists being brought to the fore,
national sentiment discouraged, waving of Union Jacks, appeals to
patriotism not for Ireland but for England.

Vane himself found his attempt at recruiting on national lines
unpopular with authority and in the mids